Harlem coach Mike Leverett said there's no pressure for his softball team coming into this season.

After the Lady Bulldogs won their first state championship last season, the team also graduated six senior players - all of them impact players. So while the Harlem coach expects this year's team to play at a high level, he also acknowledges that his roster is full of youth and inexperience.

When it comes to football season this time of year, local teams have been finding different ways to beat the heat.

Grovetown held a midnight practice last week and then practiced three days in the morning. Augusta Prep held overnight camps and then practiced at different times of the day. Greenbrier practiced in the morning, while Augusta Christian and Harlem went in the evening. Only Evans and Lakeside practiced in the afternoon.

Dew rested on the grass at midnight as Grovetown's football players began warming up near one end zone.

The Warriors took advantage of the first official day the Georgia High School Association allowed football teams to practice in pads. Grovetown began at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

"It's something we did when I was in school," said second-year coach Damien Postell, who instituted the midnight practice last season. "I just thought when I became a head coach it was something I wanted to do.

Two Columbia County residents will tee up today in the 42nd annual Palmetto Amateur golf tournament.

The 72-hole event runs through Saturday at Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken. The 84-player field will be cut to the low 40 and ties after the conclusion of Thursday's play.

Emmanuel Kountakis, who recently finished his collegiate career at Augusta University, will try to claim his second Palmetto Amateur title. In 2014, the former Lakeside High School standout posted a 9-under-par total for a four-shot victory over Clemson's Billy Kennerly, who's now on the Web.com Tour.

Drew Eller went undefeated during his freshman campaign at Evans, capping off the season with a state championship. When he returns to school next week, he'll do so with another accolade: All-American.

At the U.S. Marine Corps Cadet & Junior National Championships last month in Fargo, N.D., Eller placed fourth in the freestyle event in the 145-pound division to earn All-American status. He is believed to be the first All-American junior wrestler in the Augusta area.

The Columbia County Recreation Department Ponytails won one of their three contests in the Dixie World Series.

Representing Team Georgia, the CCRD Ponytails (ages 11-12) defeated Mississippi. But the team lost its opener to North Carolina and then was later eliminated by Florida.

Columbia County advanced to the Dixie World Series in Alexandria, La., after defeating Thomaston-Upson, 10-1, in the championship game of the Dixie State Tournament in June. The Dixie World Series runs through Friday.

Former Augusta University and Greenbrier High School baseball standout Clint Hardy signed a professional contract Monday. Hardy will play baseball for the Traverse City Beach Bums, a member of the East Division of the Frontier League in Traverse City, Mich.

"This is something I've been looking forward to for a long time," Hardy said in a press release. "It's better late than never. I can't wait for the opportunity and I just have to make the most out of it."